Fear of Fly Spray

[Kng5]

Alright, I have another question for you all. :) I was outside today when I noticed that the flies were coming back with the warmer weather...and so obviously they're going to start pestering the horses. One of my horses just hates being sprayed with the fly spray. How can I teach her that it's ok, and that it's only for her own good? If she even sees me holding the spray bottle she wont go near me and holds a grudge the whole time I'm at the barn. I don't know if she's just afraid of the liquid or what.

[LMS]

Some horses do not like the sound of the spray or the feel of it. And even it's something that's difficult for them to see: so they hearit, they feel it but they don't see it.

My mares used to do the old dance around the human in order to avoid being sprayed. So I started with spraying into my hand & wiping on them. And because that was messy I switched to spraying on a cloth (it dampens the sound).

Once ok with that, I switched to spraying on a soft brush. I then would spray close to them on the brush but accidently over spray on their legs, then shoulder and eventually over time over the rump & so forth.

I would make sure to spray when they were loaded with bugs so they could associate being treated by the spray with relief from the bugs.

It took the one mare one summer to get used to it while the other 2 summers (she was really scared of it)

Now I can spray them anywhere but still with a lead rope attached. But on occasion they would stand still ground tied only. So we're improving.

Mind you some horses never get used to it & no point in forcing the issue when using a cloth or brush is just as good.

[LMS]

Oh forgot: some horses are very sensitive to the smell of pennyroyal.

When I switched to a spray that had a stronger concentration of it, my mares reacted to it as if I was trying to douse them in acid or skunk musk! They were increadibly sensitive to that particular strong smell.

[evilgiraffe]

My old loan pony hated all sprays, think it was the noise and the feel of the tiny droplets falling on him. I just used to spray on to a cloth for fly spray. Fortunately detangle spray on his tail was alright as he couldn't feel it and it was far enough from his ears that the noise didn't bother him either! Silly pony :)

[Kng5]

Hmmm....I just hope that she'll let me giver her a bath this summer. She's supposed to be white.

[smaggi]

Put water in a spray bottle and use approach and retreat with her to desensitize her to the spray bottle. Have her on a lead and start spraying the bottle near her. If she moves let her and follow her, but keep spraying until she stops her feet, then stop spraying and rub her. Now spray again until you see any clue that she has relaxed a bit. The clue could be lowering her head, licking her lips, cocking a leg, ... As soon as she relaxes a little, stop spraying. Keep doing this until she doesn't care about the spray bottle anymore. Then repeat the same process on the other side of the horse.